Making it in the music industry is a ridiculously hard grind. In order to get people to buy your album, you need a buzz. In order to do that, you need $$$ for promotion, and to get your product produced, mastered, mixed and packaged - not to mention beats, guest verses, cuts and everything else. But in order to do that,you need to get shows to make $$$....but you need a buzz to get those!

That's what the extremely dope Che Grand is saying right now. It's taken him 3 years to record his debut album "Everything Good Ugly", and he's at the point where if his project doesn't get picked up, he'll call it a day with pursuing rap as a full blown career....Which would be a damn shame, as this guy is seriously talented.

So, my boy Khal over at Rock The Dub has come up with a petition. Sign it, pass it to your friends, whatever....The more the merrier.

Grafh goes in over the classic "Reservoir Dogs' instrumental. Dude first came to my attention when he dropped that "Glow In The Dark" joint last year. Since then, he definitely become one of my favourite MCs.

It's been a while, but here's the latest installment of my free Weekly Mix series for you all!

I had to take a break over the past 10 days due to preparing for the DMC World DJ Championships, which are happening this Friday at the Indigo/02 Arena in London. I'll be repping UK in the Teams category, as part of Bionic Stylus.

Anyhow, I decided to make up for my lack of free mixes by putting together a fairly big Dancehall mix this week...There were a few classics that I didn't get the chance to fit in (Smash Riddim, etc), but there's enough anthems in here to keep you all entertained (I hope!).

Thursday, 18 September 2008

If you're not familiar with Kurious (also known as K-Jorge), I highly suggest you go check out his album "A Constipated Monkey", which got rereleased with extra bonus tracks last year. Supposedly he's got also new album due out this year, featuring production from everyone's favourite masked rapper, MF Doom.

Alongside "A Milli", it's one of the sickest beats to have been produced this year. And now it looks like everyone may be jumping on it the same way they did with the Milli beat....Diddy has even gone as far by shooting two unofficial videos (which are pretty funny)....Anyhow, check these:

Wednesday, 17 September 2008

Ahh man! I've been waiting a good few months for the CDQ to finally leak! Here's the No DJ version.

Semtex blazed this on his show a while back (his radio rip was the only version you get), and there was talk that this wouldn't see the light of day due to Dwayne's beef with The Clipse. Definitely a hot record.

Tuesday, 16 September 2008

This was big over here in the UK for about a month or so back in '98....He seemed to fall off the radar soon after, which was a shame as this was a pretty nice party record. By the looks of things on Discogs, he stopped recording in 1999.

Sunday, 14 September 2008

DJ/Producer Silverlink teamed up with Badness & Jammer to make this crazy grime/soca/rave-esque monster of a track. For promotion, Jammer & Badness hit Oxford Street armed with a CD Player and a megaphone to test their track on members of the public. Jokes....

This actually got leaked last Thursday, but I was a little bit late getting to it (it got taken down shortly after getting put online)....It's due out 22nd September, so not too long to wait!

Can't wait to see how this goes down in the clubs....

FLOL @ "This is how we do it in London....SHATAP SHATAP SHATAP SHATAP SHATAP!!!"

For the sneaker heads, it's worth checking out for the shots of the random ALIFEs (Parachute model, etc), the Ice Cream Board Flip II, and also the Nike Blazer SBs (the Anthracite "Silver Swoosh" model) - which you can spot in at 21 seconds if you look closely.

Taken from his album, "Thee Adventures of a B-Boy D-Boy", which is being re-released on KOCH on November 11.

So the kind folks at Gold Coin Clothing hooked me up with a few bits and pieces this week.

"Gold Coin is a San Francisco based company producing limited edition designer goods. Creatively inspired by a strong mix of alternative design and street art, all Gold Coin releases are manufactured in limited quantities. Each limited edition item is released, first and foremost, as a piece of art. Releases are never again reproduced."

Massive thanks to Deirdre for sending these over. You can also check them out on Myspace as well.

This all kicked off during Oasis' set at the 2008 Virgin Festival in Toronto.

I'm not the biggest Oasis fan...but still, that's bad man....Especially when the culprit sent Noel flying off the stage (guitar in hand) into the front row....Not good at all....

According to the Daily Mail, 'the band returned to the stage after a brief 10 minute break to reset the microphones and cables'. (Translation: The band took a brief 10 minute break to most likely give the guy the mother of all beatdowns backstage)

Let's just hope the guy wasn't a Jay-Z fan, otherwise we won't hear the last of this!

Kardinal Offishall's much-anticipated album "Not 4 Sale" will be hitting stores tomorrow (us Brits will have to wait a little longer, as per ususal). I'm a massive Kardy fan, so will be looking forward to copping this once it drops over here. Seriously, this album bangs....

Not convinced? Peep out the album snippets:

For the NY heads, be sure to peep the Album Release Party (which will also feature a live performance) at S.O.B.'s tomorrow night.

Kanye performs a new track (around the 5.10 mark), which is being titled "Heartless". Taken from the ONE event during the DNC. Quality's pretty low, but you can get a good idea of how the record sounds.

Via the Amajanese Blog, which also has an MP3 rip, should you wish to download it to you iPod.

Just came in from a day of DMC practice and a gig in Southend. Saw this and had to post asap.

Anyhow, the big homie DJ Semtex interviewed Weezy a a few weeks back in The 'Dam (you may remember the Teaser I posted up). Here's the full interview, in which he talks about working with Jay Electronica, wanting to work with Eminem, "Young Money" and more....

Wednesday, 3 September 2008

Classic Kicks continues their collaboration with Vans as they ressurect the previously defunct Midschool 77 model.

Two colourways - Original Blue and Classic Kicks Red - will be released exclusively in the US at Classic Kicks on Saturday, September 6th at 12:00 pm with mail-orders starting on Monday, September 8th.

Worldwide stockists include Patta, Colette and Essense, with a similar release date.

DISCLAIMER

All audio/video posted on this blog is for promotional use only, and to promote the artists which feature on this blog. If you are the owner of the original recordings and/or the copyright holder, and would like your link removed, please contact me at deejaycable [at] gmail [dot] com and I'll take down the copyrighted material immediately upon request. Thank you.